This invention relates to video distribution systems and more specifically switched digital video (SDV) technologies for improving the utilisation of available bandwidth on these distribution systems.
In the current state of the art, SDV systems allocate channels to available bandwidth. Switched channels are assisted to available frequencies as they are requested. Today's SDV systems are typically designed with the assumption that the number of channels being requested will net exceed the available bandwidth. Thus, bandwidth constraints do not generally result in users being blocked from accessing channels they request. As video distribution systems evolve, however, the growing number of media sources and end-users may render this assumption invalid, as the probability that the interest for sources will exceed the amount of available bandwidth will increase.